SPIX MACAW UPDATE.

UPDATE on the UPDATE.
06-05-2007

I've just read that in April, 3 more Spix were hatched successfully at the Sheik's breeding centre at Al Wabra in Qatar(not Saudi)

This brings their total up to 50 birds exactly, of which they have probably bred 15 themselves. So if before this there were 67(now 70) birds in existence, he has well over three quarters of them....

07-05-2007

That's great news. Soon they'll be able to start popping them back into the wild.

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Jonathan Beilby-www.zooscene.co.uk

(Join the hornbill group-www.zoobeat.com/group.php?groupid=2)

07-05-2007

Get real... Its an incredibly difficult operation to reintroduce birds back into their native environment, especially when they are from several generations of captive- bred birds. They need to get completely fit, adapt to the native climate, learn to eat the native foods, learn to identify predators and other local species, form a pair bond with another bird- and that's all before they can even think about letting them go free from a release aviary..
Once free they've got to learn the area, where there is food and water, where to roost at night, how to avoid predators and electricity powerlines and other hazards, where there are decent trees for nesting in etc etc etc.

One wrong move in the wild and the bird has had it(= death). No 2nd chance. With so few birds available, replacements are few and far between. I'd hardly describe any of that as 'popping back' into the wild....

07-05-2007

Will they get the population as high as that of the Bali starling and then return them to the wild. That worked and the wild population appears to be rising.

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Jonathan Beilby-www.zooscene.co.uk

(Join the hornbill group-www.zoobeat.com/group.php?groupid=2)

07-05-2007

I think they'd need to have a decent-sized captive 'reservoir'- 70 birds isn't nearly enough in my opinion. They only tried to release a bird before because there was still a male living wild and he could have taught any newly released birds how to survive in the wild(food, water, roost sites etc) When he died that option was lost....

07-05-2007

Did'nt he pair up with a parrot of a differnt species?

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Jonathan Beilby-www.zooscene.co.uk

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07-05-2007

Yes he did. An Illiger's macaw female(or possibly more than one successive partner) The female Spix they released back into the wild was actually his ORIGINAL mate before it had been captured 8 years previously..... It took them a while to get reacquainted but they seemed to be pairing up nicely, though the other Illger mate was always present too. Then the male Spix seemed to reject the female Spix in favour of the Illiger which was a real problem. They even thought about shooting the Illiger but no decision was made.

Finally the female Spix disappeared. Its believed she flew into some powerlines as a Gaucho(= cowboy) said he had found her body but didn't say so for several weeks after.

08-05-2007

its for many of the reasons you stated grant that i'm so pro-keeping-the-population-in-situ..

of course you gotta go with whats working. but what i want to see is a location of spix's original habitat being identified as a "safe" area (those powerlines sound like a problem) and aviaries being set up in that area for breeding and eventual release. having the captive birds home exact same location as their release site probably offers a host of advantages, including potential recapture if things are not working and being raised on their native (wild) diet. even the ability to be able to return home for food if need be must be a bonus. i'm no expert, but imagine the species will naturally disperse radially from this breeding centre/release site....

08-05-2007

As far as I know, Patrick, the area already purchased by the Spix people for eventual reintroduction is the same area where the last wild bird lived- a farm adjacent to the 'Melancia Creek' . It is just about the only bit of relatively typical Spix habitat left- it has those mature Cariba(?)trees which they feed on, growing along a semi- dry river bed. I believe there's only one other smaller section of habitat somewhere nearby.

I guess the Powerlines are a real danger- especially to newly released and inexperienced birds- they probably can get around this by having markers of some sort on them to make them visible to flying birds- I believe they did that already but(typicallly) they weren't on that section that the female Spix flew into....

Hopefully there'll be news in future of the construction of proper release aviaries etc, I know they did a trial release some years back of captive bred Illiger's macaws in exactly that area (probably using the same aviary the Spix were held in) and exactly along the lines you describe- the birds returning for food etc initially and gradually ranging further away. It did work, apart from one or two that died early on.

With Spix I still feel its quite a long way of. What do you think is the minimum number of captive birds they need to reach as security? Getting ahead of the situation rather but how many do you think they should try eventually for a first release? I really think they are going to be able to pull this species 'back from the brink' now. The darkest days were when there were only about thirty birds, all with private breeders, no cooperation, lots of secrecy and no aim of reintroduction at all. I hope that's all long past now.

09-05-2007

agreed it certainly sounds as if the situation is MUCH improved since the "dark ages" you spoke of.

how many before reintroduction? thats a good question but i probably wouldn't begin to consider it until there was at least two decent-sized captive populations of birds in seperate locations (in case of desease outbreak etc..).

i would say i would aim for roughly 200 birds before you start risking sending animals into the wild, and at that stage i would release only genetically well-represented birds.

if the reintroduced population begins to breed in the wild, then i would begin to split the priority between enlarging still the captive population and continuing reintroductions until both bopulations are roughly 1000...

would that make sense? i'm just guessing..

Reintroduction when?
10-05-2007

I guess a figure of 100-120 birds is what we should aim for. The same number as was originally established for the Californian Condor. I think Spix's macaws are slow maturing birds and do not start to breed before a certain age. Also, I think the population as you said should be divided between two sub-groups in separate locations.

For now, Al Wabra Foundation is by far the most serious contender in breeding Spix's for years and it looks the population is now growing exponentially and breeding success is more evenly balanced between individual founder birds. All imperative in a successful breed and release project. Also, Al Wabra Foundation seems very serious about macaw breeding in general, also housing Illiger's and all.

Perhaps a second population can be started in Brazil with local birds with breeding options along the lines of the Al Wabra Foundation breeding group.

10-05-2007

That's exactly the number I was thinking of too. As Jelle says, the Al Wabra Foundation(the Sheik) now has the potential to produce birds on a larger scale than was previously possible, so it may not be so long before they reach the magic figure of 100 birds. But the other breeders have far fewer pairs between them so can't match this. But perhaps by the time a proper reintroduction schedule is planned, a release aviary etc is prepared, the population may have increased that much- lets keep hoping.

10-05-2007

oh yes... Al Wabra recently bred a Lear's macaw(first time for them) too.

10-05-2007

It will all depend on the sheikh. Do you think he would be willing to just hand over these valuable birds to be released in another country? The impression I got from reading the book about the last spix was that private owners treat their birds like status symbols. Expecting the sheikh to give up some birds would be like expecting an art collector giving up a master piece to a public gallery. I think that he would never even think of releasing them. I hope I am wrong.

11-05-2007

Boof,

The Al Wabra Foundation is a non profit organisation dedicated to captive-breeding of endangered species. It is a one of a kind institution in Qatar. Whereas we are still a while off from a world "herd" of Spix's macaws, the Al Wabra Foundation goes along way to offering that promise.